This is truly a little upsetting to me. This group is having a lot to say about our Democratic policies on women's rights. For them to kick out a congressman who supports birth control is not a good thing.

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) has been, in his words, "booted" from the national advisory board of Democrats For Life of America. The group's mission is to elect and support pro-life Democrats; Ryan served on the board for four years but the relationship had recently soured when he co-sponsored the "Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act"

Ryan said he tried to convince officials with Democrats For Life of America, which he referred to Monday as a "fringe group," that the use of contraception is needed as part of any plan to reduce unintended pregnancies but that failed.

Kristen Day, Democrats For Life's executive director, was ready to move on. "DFLA gave Congressman Ryan ample opportunities to prove he's committed to protecting life, but he has turned his back on the community at every turn."

Ryan insists he's still a strong pro-life advocate. The proposed bill includes funding for comprehensive "teen pregnancy prevention" sex education and expanded coverage of "family planning" for low-income women. "We're working in Congress with groups that agree with preventative options while is getting left behind," Ryan said. "I can't figure out for the life of me how to stop pregnancies without contraception. Don't be mad at me for wanting to solve the problem."

Washington D.C., Jun 2, 2009 / 06:54 am (CNA).- Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life of America, has criticized the lack of support among the more “absolutist” Democratic supporters of abortion rights for a bill that aims to reduce the number of abortions by helping pregnant women. Day claimed the bill’s opponents think the bill “goes too far toward common ground.”

Day authored a May 22 essay in Newsday, titled “Is there a middle on abortion?”, explaining the provisions of the Pregnant Women Support Act (PWSA) and the proposed legislation’s political reception.

A “minority of Democrats on the pro-choice side” object to a provision requiring that abortion providers offer women the voluntary option of receiving pre-abortion counseling to learn of the risks associated with abortion, Day said.

She called pro-choice folks in the party "absolutists."

I spoke out strongly when one of Howard Dean's first acts was to invite the group to present their policy called the 95-10 Initiative at the DNC. Read part of the program. It does not mention birth control.

A comprehensive plan that will reduce the number of abortions by 95% in the next 10 years by promoting abstinence, personal responsibility, adoptions and support for women and families who are facing unplanned pregnancy. The 95-10 Initiative seeks to reduce the number of abortions in America through Federal, state and local efforts as well as support and encouragement to volunteers and dedicated people on the front lines helping pregnant women. Much attention has been given to ending abortion or keeping it legal. We believe that we must do more to reduce the abortion rate by helping and supporting pregnant women.

Not a word about birth control.

Tim Ryan was certainly expendable to the group. And as long as this group has such influence in our party women's rights will be expendable as well.

It puts these Democrats and other anti-choice Democrats in a clearer perspective.

Nineteen House members sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stating that they will not vote for health care reform legislation “unless it explicitly excludes abortion funding from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan.”

"We believe that a government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan, should not be used to fund abortion.

Furthermore, we want to ensure that the Health Benefits Advisory Committee cannot recommend abortion services be included under covered benefits or as part of a benefits package. Without an explicit exclusion, abortion could be included in a government subsidized health care plan under general health care. The health care reform package produced by Congress will be landmark, and with legislation as important as this, abortion must be addressed clearly in the bill text.

And make no mistake about it -- opposition to contraception is a fringe position. Among women who have ever had intercourse, 98% have used contraception, while among "fertile, sexually active women who do not want to become pregnant," 89% are using contraceptives, for a total of 62% of all women between the ages of 15 and 44.

I disagree with Ryan's position on abortion, but his support for measures to decrease unwanted pregnancies is one that can actually get us somewhere -- reducing abortions not by making them expensive, difficult, and frightening to get but by reducing unplanned pregnancies. This is a position that finds true common ground. How common? Planned Parenthood and Jim Wallis have signed on as supporters of this bill. NARAL and churches and religious leaders and theologians. That "Democrats for Life" rejects that common ground in favor of a radical anti-contraception agenda is telling, and counterproductive.

A Democrats for Life group boots a Democratic congressman for supporting contraception.

Important Notices: By registering on this website,
visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules
page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums and
Journals are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily
represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.